Understanding design lines on clothes has changed how Sam sees clothes and accessories. Before this last year, she had no interest in clothes. She didn’t understand how clothes can change how she feels. But she’s learned that when she wears the right design lines for her, she feels more confident in her abilities.
Sam and her friends: Monica, Alice, Grace and Veronica went shopping together to find an outfit for an upcoming wine tasting weekend trip that Monica had won at the end of September. They decided they needed new outfits and night clothes.
As an architect, Sam understands the importance of design lines and proportions, and now she’s applying this knowledge to clothes. As a result, she’s exploring different design lines. This fact surprised her and her friends.
Keep reading to learn about the outfit that surprised Sam and her friends.
Sam’s Body Elements
As a review, these are Sam’s Body Element clues:
- Body Shape — H (Body Shape — The Girls)
- Angular clothes silhouette
- Can place horizontal and vertical lines almost anywhere when considering Body Shape
- Face Shape — Oval (Face Shape — The Girls)
- Curved design lines, prints and accessories
- Color Skin, Hair, Eyes — High Color Contrast (Color Skin, Hair & Eyes — The Girls)
- Favorite Colors — Blue, Pink (red/violet), Green
- Color Combinations (other colors) —
- Triadic — Blue
- Triadic or Complementary — Pink
- Complementary — Green
- Color Combinations (relative lightness and darkness) — High contrast
- First Scale Clue — Large
- Body Proportions — Short between chin/bust, Long between waist/crotch (Body Proportions — The Girls)
- Horizontal lines — Don’t place them between her chin/bust but do place them between her waist/crotch
- Vertical lines — Limit the amount between her waist/crotch but do place them between her chin/bust
- Second Scale Clue — Decrease overall scale between chin/bust and increase it between waist/crotch
- Body Frame Size — Medium (Body Frame Size — The Girls)
- Third scale clue — Medium
- Scale Strategy — Medium/Large (Scale Strategy — The Girls)
- Decrease it to medium between her chin/bust
- Increase it to large between her waist/crotch
Understanding Design Lines -- Top
Sam wanted to find something that was a little different from what she has in her closet. She saw this top and loved the fact that it’s a twist on a classic tank and cardigan. The twist is that the tank and cardigan are hooked together and the cardigan has a front tie which can be placed in several different spots. In the past, the tie would’ve scared her away. But now that she understands design lines on clothes, she’s starting to open up to new ones.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
Sam learned that the first design line she needs to look at is the silhouette of the clothes. That’s the difference between the shoulders/waist, waist/hips and hips/shoulders. There are two categories of silhouettes: angular and curved. With clothes that fall into the angular category, the shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. While with clothes that fall into the curved category, the waist is significantly smaller than both the shoulders and hips.
Sam further learned that her Body Shape gives her the clue as to which category she should wear. Her Body Shape is H, which means her shoulders/waist/hips appear to be the same width. Therefore she should look for clothes with an angular silhouette.
When Sam looked at the side seam from the armpit to the hem, it appeared to be straight, making it angular. She concluded that the silhouette of this top is perfect for her.
Horizontal Lines
Sam learned that horizontal design lines stop the eye, emphasize that area and make it appear wider and shorter. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these lines.
For Body Shapes, Sam learned not to put horizontal lines in the widest areas because they’ll bring attention to these areas and make them appear even wider. However, horizontal lines can be placed in thinner areas, because they bring emphasis to these areas and make them appear wider and in proportion with the wider areas. She has an H Body Shape, which means her shoulders, waist and hips appear to be the same width. As a result, she can place horizontal design lines anywhere.
For Body Proportions, Sam learned not to put horizontal lines in short areas because they’ll make the areas appear even shorter. But she should put them in long areas because they’ll make them appear shorter and in proportion with other areas. Her Body Proportions are short between her chin/bust and long between her waist/hips. This means that she shouldn’t place them between her chin/bust; but should place them between her waist/crotch. In all other areas, she can place them there or not.
The main horizontal lines are at the hems of the top and sleeves. This top also has a tie that can be placed in several areas. The top hem is at Sam’s crotch area and the sleeve hem is at her hip mid-hip. Both work well for her.
The picture shows the knot/tie up higher than where Sam plans to place it. While in the dressing room, she experimented and tied the tie in different areas to see if she could create a horizontal line between her waist/crotch. She found a location that works perfectly for her.
Vertical Lines
Sam learned that vertical design lines move her eye up and down and make the area appear thinner and taller. Her Body Shape and Body Proportions give her clues as to the placement of these design lines.
For Body Shape, she learned that she should put vertical lines in her widest areas because they’ll make the areas appear thinner. However, she should not put them only in the thinner areas because vertical lines will make the areas appear even thinner than the wider areas. Because Sam has an H Body Shape, she can place vertical design lines anywhere so she needs to look at her Body Proportions to determine the placement of these design lines.
Sam’s Body Proportions are short between her chin/bust and long between her waist/crotch. This means that she wants vertical lines between her chin/bust and should avoid them between her waist/crotch.
This top has three vertical design lines: V-neckline, center front opening to the knot and the ties. These vertical lines work well for Sam’s Body Proportions. The V-neckline creates two vertical lines lengthening this area. The center front opening brings the attention down to the knot between her waist/crotch, which helps create a needed horizontal line.
As an architect, she learned the magic of horizontal and vertical design lines. Now she understands their magic in clothes.
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam has learned that the shape of design lines is also important. Her Face Shape gives her clues as to the shape of them. A curved Face Shape should wear curved design lines and an angular Face Shape should wear angular ones.
Sam has an oval Face Shape, which falls into the curved category. There are two design line shapes in this top: the neckline and the hem of the cardigan created by the tie. The V-neckline has an angular shape which doesn’t match her Face Shape clues. This neckline does create vertical lines which are needed in this area to give the length. Sam thought she’d look for a necklace with a curved shape pendant to transform the neckline.
The line created by the cardigan tie is curved which works perfectly for Sam’s Face Shape.
Color
Lately Sam has been drawn to navy blue, both as an architect and in clothes. When she saw this top and pants, she gravitated to them. Navy is a great neutral and can go with her favorite colors of pink and green.
Understanding Design Lines -- Pants
After seeing the top, Sam saw the pants. They’re something she would’ve walked away from in the past. But she recognized that these pants would turn the top into not only a work top but also a fun event. Her friends were shocked that she tried on the pants and bought them.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Silhouette
With Sam’s H Body Shape, she looked for pants with a regular fit because she wanted ones with an angular silhouette. She learned that most pants in the ready-to-wear market have this silhouette. If the label has “curvy fit,” it means the silhouette is curvy.
These pants didn’t have a “curvy fit” label, so she knew the silhouette was perfect for her.
Horizontal Lines
When it comes to pants, Sam learned that the only horizontal design line she needs to be concerned about is the placement of the waistband. If she wants to tuck her shirt in, she needs to wear mid-rise pants. The waistband on mid-rise pants will hit her at or about an inch below her belly button. This horizontal line will make the area between her waist/crotch appear shorter. When it comes to pant length she can wear any length because proportion wise her torso and legs are equal.
These pants have a mid-rise waistband and the hem is at the ankle. Both are perfect for Sam.
Shape Of Design Lines
With Sam’s Face Shape being oval, she looked for curvy print patterns. Before she knew about this detail, she never wore prints because she didn’t know which ones worked for her. This knowledge has given her more confidence in wearing prints.
The overall design line shape in the print is curved, which is perfect for Sam.
Color
Sam learned that the color of her skin, hair and eyes give her clues as to the relative lightness and darkness of colors. She has a high color contrast profile, which means her skin is much lighter than her hair and eyes. This means she can wear light and dark colors together.
The color contrast in this print is high: navy blue and white.
Scale
Another thing that scared Sam away from prints is the scale of them. As an architect, she understands the scale of design lines. The problem was she didn’t know how to translate that to clothes. Therefore she avoided prints. She’s learned that the clues from: Color Skin, Hair and Eyes, Body Proportions and Body Frame Size combined give her the clue she needs to determine her scale size. Her overall scale clue is medium/large.
The scale of the print on the pants is medium/large, which is perfect for Sam.
Understanding Design Lines -- Necklace
Sam was looking in the fashion jewelry department with her friends. She wasn’t planning to get a necklace. But when she saw the navy and white print on the pendant, she knew she needed it to wear with the pants. She and her friends were shocked by this decision.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Vertical Lines
Because Sam is short between her chin and bust, the best style of necklace is one with a chain and pendant. This is because the chain creates a vertical line, adding visual length in this area.
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam looked at the pendant to see if it had a curved shape, matching the clue her curved Face Shape gives. The overall shape of the pendant is curved.
Color
The pendant has the same navy and white colors as the pants. The color contrast is high, matching her high contrast profile.
Scale
Because Sam is short between her chin and bust, she should decrease the overall scale of necklaces from medium/high to medium. The pendant has a medium scale.
Understanding Design Lines -- Handbag
Sam has been eyeing this handbag for a while. She loves the shape and color. She thought it would go great with the outfit and she could figure out how to incorporate it into her other outfits.
Design Line & Color Analysis
Shape Of Design Lines
Sam learned that the shape of accessories should match the clue her Face Shape gives. With having a curved Face Shape, the handbags she chooses should also have the same shape.
The overall feel of this handbag is curved.
Scale
Sam learned that the best size of handbag for her is medium/large. She loves the fact that her body gives her these clues. It makes an overwhelming array of handbags manageable.
This handbag has a scale of medium/large.
Final Thoughts
Sam really surprised herself during this shopping trip. Her confidence in picking out clothes is increasing. The fact that her body gives her clues as to the best design lines and colors is giving her a framework to work within. Also the overwhelming amount of clothes and accessories has become more manageable because she’s only looking for the ones that work for her.
Next week, Monica will share her new outfit to wear on the wine tasting trip. Her problem when shopping isn’t about getting overwhelmed, but rather she gets distracted by color: she sees the colors she loves and wants them. Now she has a system, which helps her determine if the design lines are right for her. The blog post is called, Understanding Design Lines — Monica.
Wear Your Greatness!!
